I Samuel 16 · The Lantern

And the LORD said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go, I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

The Jews had before been directed to compose a sacred oil, with which those who were called to the priesthood or to the kingdom might be anointed. And as now the robe of purple is a sign of the assumption of royal dignity among the Romans, so with them the anointing with the holy oil conferred the title and power of king.

1. For when it is said to him: "How long will you mourn?" it is shown that he was mourning persistently. Great, therefore, is the affection of the saints, even when they outwardly bring forth the severity of punishment. For on the outside they rage, but inwardly they melt with love.

Fill your horn with oil, and come, etc. Leaving behind, he says, the care of the carnal kingdom, embrace rather that dominion, which by the light of the Holy Spirit is ascertained to be most rich, to be hoped for and loved.

And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.

And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do: and you shall anoint to me him whom I name to you.

And Samuel did that which the LORD spoke, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Do you come peaceably?

8. As for the historical sense, the elders are amazed, because the prophet was not accustomed to come there. By this it is perhaps signified that chosen teachers should scarcely ever be seen in public, should be frequent in solitude, free from civil affairs, full of spiritual ones. Therefore it becomes a wonder to the people when the person of the pastor is seen in public.

And he came to Bethlehem, etc. When the prophecies about Christ arose in the world from the prophets, those who were more prudent, meeting the same prophets with a devout mind, already deemed their words worthy of a miracle, and with eager intention inquired whether these same oracles of the prophets signaled peace to come to the ages; or if they were going to impose an unbeara…

And he said, Peaceably: I have come to sacrifice to the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

And it happened, when they had come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.

They have gone beyond the limits of impropriety. They have invented mirrors to reflect all this artificial beautification of theirs, as if it were nobility of character or self-improvement. They should, rather, conceal such deception with a veil. It did the handsome Narcissus no good to gaze on his own image, as the Greek myth tells us.

He goes to Bethlehem and considers every son of Jesse to be the very person that the Lord was looking for.… He makes the same mistake in each case, and he is reproved in each case, giving evidence of the weakness of the human mind.

And when they had entered, he saw Eliab, etc. He introduces the sons of Jesse, the first, the second, and the third. Among them, none is found worthy to be anointed: because the Synagogue produced doctors of the law, prophets, and psalmists; but all these are participants, in none of them is the author of human salvation found.

But the LORD said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this.

Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this.

Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The LORD has not chosen these.

And Samuel said to Jesse, Are here all your children? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and indeed, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come here.

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and also of a beautiful countenance, and fine to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

So clearly holy David was filled with heavenly inspiration, and not through human actions, the birth of twins, angels, visions, a dream, a cloud and a voice from heaven, or any other way of that kind.

Lofty indeed, nay most lofty, is this virtue of perfect conduct, yet it is perfectly accomplished by many. Great indeed is this sublimity, yet holy Church possesses many who are sublime. For from the time she rejected the Synagogue, she raised up holy Church to an innumerable height of virtue.

Samuel arose and went to Ramah. Having completed the duty of anointing, Samuel returned home; for now, with the coming of the Lord who was foretold to come, the proclamations of the prophets were silenced. For the Law and the prophets prophesied until John (Matthew 11), from then on the kingdom of God is preached.

But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

The devil has power that might be called his own, only over such as no longer belong to God, the heathen whom he considers once for all as a drop in a bucket, as dust on the threshing floor, as spittle in the mouth—and, as such, totally handed over to the devil as a quite useless possession.Otherwise, he may do nothing by his own right, against those who dwell in the house of G…

Therefore, when a person falls from the Spirit for any wickedness, if he repents after his fall, the grace remains irrevocably to the one who is willing; otherwise he who has fallen is no longer in God (because that Holy Spirit and Paraclete which is in God has deserted him), but this sinner shall be in him to whom he has subjected himself, as took place in Saul's instance; for…

Behold, the evil spirit of God agitates you, etc. The apostles said to the Jews, desiring in all things to serve their salvation: See and recognize how evil the spirit is, which, because of your fault, has been sent by the Lord against your minds, to oppose the name of his only begotten Son, and has led you to conspire against him: yet now, having performed penitence for your e…

And Saul’s servants said to him, Look now, an evil spirit from God troubles you.

Let our lord now command your servants, which are before you, to seek out a man, who is a skilled player on a harp: and it shall happen, when the evil spirit from God is upon you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well.

And Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.

Then answered one of the servants, and said, Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is skilled in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a warrior, and prudent in matters, and a beautiful person, and the LORD is with him.

How was he "a man," and how "prudent in speech," and how also "a warrior," while he was still shepherding sheep? He did not, then, speak of himself in saying this, but foretold the things to come as though present, and he testifies concerning David to the things which were going to be — except for the "the Lord is with him" and the "good in appearance," which belonged to him fr…

It is fitting to raise the eyes of faith to the power of this craftsman, and to consider here and there the Fathers of the new and old testament. Behold, with these same eyes of faith opened, I gaze upon David, Amos, Daniel, Peter, Paul, Matthew, and I wish to consider what kind of craftsman this Holy Spirit is, but in my very consideration I fall short.

Behold, I have seen the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, skilled in playing, etc. One of the youths is the unity of the humble of Christ, with one and the same heart and soul agreed.

Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me David your son, which is with the sheep.

And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread, and a wineskin of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul.

And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor-bearer.

And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, please, stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight.

And it happened, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

Once when he came to Saul, who was frenzied and out of his right mind, he healed him by soothing his passions with song, so that Saul's understanding returned to him again in accordance with nature. The goal, then, of the symbolism of the singing is clear from these words.

The discipline of music incorporates great power and knowledge which brings delight; teachers of secular literature, through the generosity of God who grants all that is useful, have made it possible through theoretical texts to ascertain what was earlier regarded as hidden from view in the nature of the world.

Therefore whenever the evil spirit of God seized Saul, etc. The sense is clear from the preceding, and it is suitable not only to the faithful Jews but also to us.

I Samuel16